Boo!

Yeah, not much scary about these cookies. However; I do think it was cute that while I was mixing in the chips and nuts, this song came on the radio: I used this recipe, but added chocolate chips and chopped pecans to it. They didn't spread very well, and kind of came out the same shape as when I dropped them. Lesson learned for subsequent batches. I wonder if oil would work better than margarine? If I can improve on these (I'm already thinking that oats are needed), I'll bring them to all the parties I'm invited to this year. :>/ Upon cooling, these are delightfully chewy and go GREAT with coffee.

Happy World Vegan Day!

Oh, and Happy Vegan Month of Food! Day one!


I came home today after a long weekend with friends in Chicago. I'm pretty jealous because a) Chicago has way more vegan choices for restaurants, and b) the tap water is drinkable. I'm also in love with Ellie and Tim's beautiful house and pantry. A pantry! I now have a new prerequisite for future apartments.

Ellie picked me up at the airport on Friday, and we went straight to Demera. We have a tradition with Ethiopian Diamond, but this is a new place that deserved our gusto for all things served on injera. The tikle gomen was amazing. The ye-misir wot: heavenly. We destroyed our lunch before I had a chance to take a picture of it in it's whole form, so here's the damage:



Afterward, we hit the Asian market and Whole Foods. Once loaded up with provisions, we planned out the food and timing for the Haunted Housewarming. We caught a sliver of a show at The Empty Bottle, and headed home. Saturday was going to be busy as hell, so I insisted on brunch the next morning. We went to Lula Cafe in Logan Square. It got all kinds of raves on Yelp for it's vegan-ness, but I was stuck with one menu item. Tofu Scramble, which I wanted anyway. What didn't do it for me was the cubed tofu (I like my scramble scrambled), the goddamned cantaloupe in the fruit dish, and that stuff there on the right? Not Earth Balance.



The Gimme Lean sausage patties and the coffee were good, and it fueled us for our day in the kitchen.

I truly suck at life because Ellie and I made a TON of sushi, and I got no pictures of it. Two platters each of nori rolls and inari parcels. I made three batches of rice; one that was made pink with beets, one that was yellow with shiitake mushrooms and green onions, and one that was red with raw beet, carrot, and spinach. We rolled cucumber, bell peppers, green onion, and avocado. The inari pouches (plain fried, turmeric yellow, and spicy red) were stuffed with ginger and the different kinds of rice. I guess they were a hit, because they were inhaled.

Ellie whipped up a batch of my Mediterranean Red Lentil Iron Chef Soup:



And I finished making the cupcakes as people started to arrive. They are gluten free, chocolate with peanut butter caramel filling, and chocolate ganache. This picture sucks.



The weird holes on top are from filling them by hand. Chunky peanut butter + Wilton pastry bag = peanut butter caramel explosion. Which doesn't sound that bad, but it is when you have guests storming the kitchen.

Now, as for Mofo...I have been contemplating several themes. Magazine recipes veganized, candy week, squash week...but am looking for more. Tomorrow will be a late night post, I'm sure.

VeganMoFo is over!

I worked a measly five hours today, and still came home and did a Homer dive into my bed. I was awakened three hours later to Bowie biting my fingers (this means "Feed me"), and the computer sitting here just mocking me.

The seeds and the cookies were a hit. I still have a Rubbermaid container of pumpkin in the fridge. So, why am I not in the kitchen, whipping up some soup, or bread, or something else? Because I can't do it. I can't even open up the container because the smell will make me cry.

So, I decided to answer some questions that have appeared in the comments this month.

What kind of morons don't want cupcakes!?
I know, right?

mmm... so this is silly (I guess I've always had a vague idea of how to make vegetable stock... I mean really how else would you do it?) but 'WOW' so easy... think I might have a weekend activity... are there certain scraps that I really need to have to make it taste right?
I answered this in the comments, but who goes back to check? Anyway, whatever scraps you want will work, although I would steer clear of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. You don't want your broth to taste like feet. I recently used grapefruit rind in a batch, and it added something to it that I can't really describe, but I'd do it again!

And do you have sriracha?
I had to talk myself out of buying the 32oz. bottle.

(Re: paella) Does this one have saffron? (it's too expensive for me to buy and then not like!)
It's just not paella without saffron! For some reason I have a lot of it. I know it's expensive, but maybe your co-op or HFS has it in bulk? Just buy enough for a recipe?

Where does one find vegan fish sauce?
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar or natural sweetener
1/4 cup water

You're gonna hate me. I have never made Cookies and I don't buy Chocolate Chips!
Why?
I don't hate you. I admire your restraint. Just say no.

Does barack obama like sweet potato pie?


Only one bite of sweet potato pie?
Well, I did bring it for my coworkers.

Wait...what exactly is the difference between dressing and stuffing?
Stuffing is stuffed. Dressing is on the side.

Where's your sage bread recipe from?
One of many bread machine cookbooks. I think I got it from "The Best Low-Fat, No-Sugar Bread Machine Cookbook Ever." Look for "Stuffing Bread." And if you don't have a bread machine, get one. Purist, schmurist.



Happy Halloween!